Don Hosek on Lilith

From alt.fan.kali.astarte.inanna

Hello. I have a question. I happen to notice in
the dictionary that Lilith was Adam's first wife prior
to Eve's creation. Does anyone have any more
information about this?

The origin of the Lilith story comes from the
Talmudic commentary on the verse in Genesis 1:27 ...male
and female he created them... Various explanations of
this are put forth in different midrashim. One was that
until Eve was created, Adam was a hermaphrodite. (which is why
the Hebrew word for face, panim, is plural in form).
The relevant story, however, is that of Lilith, Adam's
first wife. She refused to have sex with Adam because
he insisted on being on top, and finally used the power
of the Tetragrammaton [1]
(the proper pronunciation of the
Lord's holy name) to fly out of the Garden of Eden.
Meanwhile, Eve was created from Adam's rib as a more
submissive wife who would stay on the bottom during
sex.

&nbsp When Lilith landed, it was on the shores of the
Red Sea. It was here that she met with the demons'
beings who were souls left over from creation. They
were also all male and perfectly willing to be on the
bottom, so they made Lilith their queen. Her husband is
named Asmodeus in some folk tales. There are other folk
tales which name her son as well.

&nbsp According to legend Lilith haunts the wilds and
deserted cities. She is mentioned somewhere in the
Wisdom books, I forget where. Proverbs,
I think [2]. Traditionally she''s
associated with dangers to pregnant women and small
children and their are traditions associated with
specially inscribed coins which are meant to protect
against her.

&nbsp This is all from memory, so I'm sure there are
a few omissions and/or inaccuracies in it. The
Reader's Encyclopedia has a short article giving
some of the details above. Also worth checking out are
Howard Schwartz's collections of Jewish folktales,
particularly "Lilith's Cave".

&nbsp -- Don Hosek

[1] Misuse of the Name of God
is a slander also directed at Jesus in the
Toledoth Yeshu.[AH]